Many church denominations use members in positions called deacons. As varied as denominations are, so too are the duties and responsibilities of these deacons. By observing their functions in different churches we might ask ourselves some basic questions to understand them and their function. Some of the questions I ask myself are: Where do deacons come from? What are their purposes? When did the church first start using deacons? Are the servants identified in Acts the start of the deacons in the church?
First we must define deacon. Vine’s dictionary says that deacon, or DIAKONOS in Greek, “primarily denotes a servant, whether as doing servile work, or as an attendant rendering free service, without particular reference to its character.” In the scriptures we see the deacons as the servants of the church. Deacons are not leading the church, which is the responsibility of the pastor, but taking care of the church as a servant. In Philippians 1:1 we see Paul identify three groups of people in the church. They are the general populace of believers or saints, bishops and deacons. So we can clearly say that the deacons are the helpers of the early church.
Homer Kent Jr. categorizes Acts 6:1-7 into three distinct categories which he says that Luke captured in these few verses. The three categories are “The Need” (Acts 6:1,2), “The Method” (Acts 6:3-6), and “The Outcome” (Acts 6:7). In keeping with this outline I will capture the start of the deacons within the church and answer if the seven selected men are deacons by definition and action.
When the church first started growing the believers were few and shared everything. And there was not much need for deacons. But as time went on a need for deacons was identified. First th...
... middle of paper ...
...did what deacons do, and met the criteria of a deacon we can call them deacons in the early stages of the church to be further defined later in the church as they became more common.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clarke, Adam, “Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible,” available from http://www.e-
sword.net
Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, United States: Hendrickson
Publishers, Inc., 2007
Kent Jr, Homer A., Jerusalem To Rome Studies In Acts, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2006
The Nelson Study Bible, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997
Towns, Elmer L., Theology for Today, Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomas Learning, 2002
Vine, W.E., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Mc Lean: Mac Donald
Publishing Company
Wesley, John, “John Wesley’s Notes on the Bible,” available from http://www.e-sword.net
Webber, Christopher. Welcome to the Episcopal Church: An Introduction to Its History, Faith, and Worship. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Pub., 1999. Print.
Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.
Mead, Frank S., and Samuel S. Hill. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1995. Print.
1. A significant passage we have gone over in class together is Acts 2: 42-47: Communal Living. In this passage the followers became a community and a church and they were spreading the wealth to help other like Jesus would so that none were marginalized and all were taken care of. The followers devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles and communal life. Everyone would meet up and they would break bread with each other. 2. The author of the Acts of the Apostles is Luke the Evangelist. Luke saw the church and everything that was going on it as the work of the Holy Spirit and that he was enlivening the people to do the things they are doing and working through people such as Paul, John, and others of the Early Church. 3. I see the people actually live as church and the church is changing and becoming more of a community. I see the Holy Spirit in this because it is sort of the main cause of this development of the church be cause he made all of the events leading up to this happen. 4. In this passage I see community of disciples because that is exactly what it became it became a community of followers of Jesus and they had values and lifestyles that differed from the social norm of the times. Community of disciples is defined as a group that devote themselves as followers of Jesus thereby having values and lifestyles that may often be in contrast with society. 5. Having studied this passage, I now realize that the Holy Spirit brought all the people together and because of that they became accepting of each other. One way I see this passage related to church life today is that we all break bread with one another and have no second thought about it when we receive communion together we are not thinking about who that ...
Chapter four addresses the divisions within the Corinthian church, such as jealousy, quarrelling and their defective view of the church. The apostle Paul links their view of the church to church leadership stating “If they had a true view of the church, they would have a true view of the leaders of the church” (p79). The situation was that their view was lower for the church and higher for the leaders thus they were boasting about the leaders. Paul’s view was that the Corinthian church was spoon feed Christians not maturing as they should. Paul’s reference to addressing the church as worldly did not mean they were unregenerate because they did possess the Spirit but they were not being spiritual, not being controlled by the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say “They have experienced new birth by the Spirit but have remained babies in Christ; they have not yet become mature in Christ” (p80) The Apostle most likely would express the same opinion about many Church congregations today. Many churches are elated with their church growth, but it is often superficial. If the church does not offer a real growth opportunity the journey is short lived. The church fills up with Christians not participating in the sanctification process. As with many churches today the Corinthians had a self-serving attitude about themselves and their church. The Corinthians would have never behaved the way they did if they had a higher view of the church and what it stood for and a lesser view of the leaders. Paul outlines three visions of the church “each of which has important implications” (p82). The first metaphor is agricultural: God’s field (v9) 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God...
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
Strauch, Alexander. Biblical Eldership: Restoring the Eldership to Its Rightful Place in the church. Rev. ed. Littleton: Lewis and Roth Publishers, 1997.
These views generally fell under what they thought the church should look like, and from that flowed their views on the sacraments and schism. In regards to the church, the Donatists believed that it could not consist of unholy or unclean people. They thought that spiritual potency would be lost through contact with an unclean thing or that they might alienate God from His Church. Donatists viewed the holiness of the church to be found in the individual members of the church. To the Donatists it was essential that the leadership of the church be pure in order that their teachings and followers remain pure.
The idea of pastors being leaders within their congregation and community, while not outright condemned, is thought to be secondary. The role of manager of staff is likewise vilified. The authors rightly point to a complete lack of biblical imperative for any of the “secondary” roles. What is never addressed, however, is the complete lack of evidence for the role of pastor at all. They seem to argue that the role of pastor is closer to that of prophet than anything else.
Johnson, Rev. George, Rev. Jerome D. Hannan, and Sister M. Dominica. The Story of the Church: Her Founding, Mission and Progress; A Textbook in Church History. Rockford: Tan Book and Publishers Inc., 1980.
"Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood" (Acts 20:28, ESV). Paul is telling us that we have a responsibility to all the flock as pastors. We are to watch over them and protect
The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups. First there were the ordinary believers, the citizens of the kingdom who followed the Christian faith. Then there was the clergy, the members who devoted their lives to the church. Each group of the clergy was assigned specific functions by the clergy nobles to help run the Church competently. Amongst all the clergy associates, the Pope was at the top, he had the equivalent if not more power than the ruling monarch and was in charge of all political affairs and administered the clergy. He was able to dictate political laws and even comment on the Monarch’s decisions. Under the Pope, there were the bishops. The bishops directed church courts and managed cases correlated to the public such as marriage, wills and other public predicaments. Priests held religious services that consisted of sacraments, baptisms and the usual Sabbath services. The monks and nuns received manual labour that required helping clean the monasteries and assist the needy. Educated monks copied manuscripts of medieval and ancient knowledge in the Scriptorium. Finally...
Ritchie, M. (1999). Community bible chapel. The story of the church – Part 4, Topic 5. The Protestant
Some of those roles were being a place of worship, a place where people can go and hear the word of God, a place where all the sacraments can occur, a place that bears the cross and a place that gives meaning, purpose and ethics to the world. Without the church, people wouldn’t have a place to worship or a place to learn more about Jesus and the word of God. The church is essential for modern world today because in a world filled with chaos it’s always good to have a place that’s calm and that you can feel the presence of God. Going to church can help remind people that God is still here, even when they feel abandon. People can witness God’s presence and grace through the scriptures and through the